tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278279504304651957.post3976759306233987748..comments2019-01-21T10:41:31.932-08:00Comments on South Asia Investor Review: Pakistani Politicians Change Election Law to Escape AccountabilityRiaz Haqhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278279504304651957.post-43801529337354597392019-01-13T22:24:37.915-08:002019-01-13T22:24:37.915-08:00The Make or Break Battle of #Pakistan Between #Isl...The Make or Break Battle of #Pakistan Between #Islamabad and #Sind by @SSEHBAI1. #Zardari&#39;s free-for-all party, nay an orgy, on state account and all were enjoying as if they would never be caught. #PPP #Corruption #fakeaccounts #MoneyLaundering https://www.siasat.pk/forums/threads/the-make-or-break-battle-of-pakistan-between-islamabad-and-sind-an-excellent-write-up-by-shaheen-sehbai.667922/ Feeling confident, though politically cut to a<br />fraction of what BB’s PPP once looked like,<br />Zardari went on a spree in the spheres that<br />he still controlled --- Sindh Government,<br />some banks and industrial units he had<br />created as part of the master plan of his<br />money laundering scheme, many front men,<br />even rickshaw drivers and ice cream<br />vendors.<br />The JIT has detailed the flow of money<br />from one end to the other, with bank<br />accounts, vouchers, subsidies to his own<br />industrial units and so on. The scheme<br />expanded in 4 to 5 years to a global network<br />that had successfully stolen government<br />funds, hijacked projects and recycled them<br />into mega showpieces like the 64-storey<br />Bahria skyscraper in Karachi, vast lands<br />spreading on thousands of acres given to<br />Malik Riaz, free palaces gifted to him in<br />return and on and on. Even birthday cakes<br />were brought from fake accounts, as were<br />lunches and dinners for Bilawal House<br />residents.<br /><br />It was a free-for-all party, nay an orgy, on<br />state account and all were enjoying as if they<br />would never be caught.<br />Luckily or unluckily for PPP, Panama<br />happened and the so far frustrated and<br />almost defeated establishment that always<br />wanted to pounce on Nawaz and Zardari,<br />found a platform they could put their toes on.<br />Blunders and mistakes by Nawaz led to<br />his government and family sinking into the<br />Panama whirlpool day by day until his<br />government went down and his political<br />fortunes drowned with the Imran Khan<br />upsurge.<br />Nawaz was becoming history but Zardari<br />was rejoicing as if he would have a free<br />hand. Not so. Planners were waiting for the<br />first big fish to be netted so that they could<br />then go for the next one.<br />With Nawaz gone, Zardari was next and<br />the tons of evidence that had already been<br />gathered in years were waiting to be used.<br />Zardari’s luck and tricks had eluded the<br />sinkhole for way too long. No more.<br />As soon as the Supreme Court found that<br />the fake account cases could rope in Zardari,<br />they decided to expand the probe and bring<br /><br />in ISI and others. That was the moment<br />many had been waiting for years.<br />The data that they had to collect was<br />already with them, in raw shape, which<br />Zardari had never allowed to be presented in<br />any court.<br />Quickly the JIT jumped on all the records,<br />sent delegations abroad to confirm and tie up<br />loose ends, grab those who had been used<br />as front men, many of whom were already in<br />their custody and had deposed like Lyari’s<br />Uzair Baloch, Anwar Majid and his family, Dr<br />Asim Hussain, Hussain Lawai and others.<br />Tons of facts existed and had simply to be<br />collated, confirmed and dots connected, T’s<br />needed to be crossed. Much of what the JIT<br />needed was achieved quickly.<br />When the report was sent in to SC in 26-<br />volumes, it was a miraculous job.<br />Zardari was expecting something nasty but<br />not a nuclear bomb like this.<br />He went ballistic and was assured by paid<br />and unpaid loyal attorneys that he should not<br />panic, as he will get time, like Nawaz.<br />The PPP leadership was then called in and<br />asked to stand up. Shamelessly and almost<br />helplessly the leadership had no option but to<br />buckle in and start speaking for the criminalsRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278279504304651957.post-31090866216067817012018-06-21T07:07:16.981-07:002018-06-21T07:07:16.981-07:00Panama Papers: New leak shows Pak clients struggli...Panama Papers: New leak shows Pak clients struggling to avoid trouble<br /><br />https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/331641-panama-papers-new-leak-shows-pak-clients-struggling-to-avoid-trouble<br /><br />A fresh batch of leaked documents of Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, reveals how panic triggered after the release of Panama Papers among the firm and its clients; several of them were Pakistanis who had to change their plans of hiding wealth abroad amid fear of yet another leak.<br /><br />A person (Zaka Ashraf) nominated by PPP for interim PM, who had also been chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), abandoned the process of opening two accounts in Swiss banks after the Panama Papers through his two benami shell companies which came to surface earlier but their ownership was unknown.<br /><br />Former attorney general Justice (R) Malik Qayyum disassociated himself from a benami company. Its Swiss bank account had Qayyum and his wife as signatories. Samina Durrani, the mother of Tehmina Durrani, “gifted” one offshore company holding property in the UK, to Asimullah Durrani, her son, a few months after the release of Panama Papers.<br /><br />Meanwhile, a Pakistani banker in the Middle East, Saleem Sheikh, was found seeking explanation from the law firm about the steps taken to prevent any embarrassment in future through yet another leak.<br /><br />Instead of replying to this concern, Mossack Fonseca served him notice in April 2017 together with other Pakistani passport holders having companies in British Virgin Islands to change their registered agent as “an administrative decision has been taken to resign as registered agent/office for companies with links to high risk countries.” Pakistan is among those 21 countries declared prohibited for business by BVI in April 2017. Nielsen and Nescoll, the offshore companies owned by Sharif family had changed their agent in 2014 hence no detail was found in the latest leak.<br /><br /><br />-----------------<br /><br />Although Mossack Fonseca announced its closure in March this year, it started resigning in April as registered agent of clients from Pakistan which is “on our current prohibited list of countries.” “Kindly however advise the client that an administrative decision was made after conducting a risk assessment to cease acting as agent for companies associated with Pakistan currently, due to the elevated country risk. “Accordingly, we suggest that they make arrangements to change the registered agent/office of the company soonest,” read an email.<br /><br />There are another 20 countries which have been declared ‘High Risk’ due to money laundering and terror financing. Pakistan has been flagged due to terror financing. Other high risk countries are Afghanistan, Belarus, Bosnia, Central African Republic, Cuba, Congo, Eretria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, North Korea, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Zimbabwe.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278279504304651957.post-90791680082655295612018-06-12T07:32:24.172-07:002018-06-12T07:32:24.172-07:00More than 100 election candidates&#39; particulars...More than 100 election candidates&#39; particulars declared &#39;extremely dubious&#39;<br />Fahad Chaudhry Updated June 12, 2018 <br /><br /><br />https://www.dawn.com/news/1413663<br /><br />The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), during its scrutiny of candidates for the 2018 general elections, has so far found that more than 100 candidates are bank defaulters, DawnNewsTV reported on Tuesday citing sources in the Election Commission of Pakistan.<br /><br />The SBP has declared the particulars submitted by these candidates as &quot;extremely dubious&quot;.<br /><br />According to the SBP report, which has reportedly been sent to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), PPP&#39;s Hina Rabbani Khar and Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo — a hopeful from NA-143, NA-144 and PP-186 — have their names on the list.<br /><br />Ahmed Shah Khagga (PP-193), Ghulam Ahmed Shah (PP-193), Asim Irshad Khan (NA-124), Ameer Ahmed Siyal (NA-116), Khalid Masood (NA-30), Abdul Sattar Bachani and Zulfiqar Bachani (both from NA-224), Ameer Waliuddin Chishti (NA-256), Ayaz Khan (NA-257) and Changez Khan (NA-258) are also among the defaulters, as per DawnNewsTV&#39;s sources.<br /><br /><br />Azhar Khokhar (NA-52), Zainab Ahsan (PP-109), Umar Farooq (PP-113), Mushtaq Ahmed (PP-136), Ali Asim Shah (PP-185), Muhammad Ali Tarkai (PK-46) and Chaudhry Shakeel Gulzar (PP-66) are also among those who owe money to banks.<br /><br />The scrutiny of nomination papers to exclude ineligible candidates from the election race started today, a day after returning officers (ROs) completed the process of receiving nomination papers from prospective candidates.<br /><br />According to ECP spokesman Altaf Ahmad Khan, particulars of 12,000 candidates have so far been sent to the National Accountability Bureau, Federal Bureau of Revenue, SBP and other relevant institutions — out of which 7,500 had been verified with the help of an online system.<br /><br />1,514 candidates are PTCL defaulters<br />Over 1,500 candidates who filed their nomination papers for various provincial and national assembly seats with the ECP are defaulters of Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL), a report sent by the company to ECP said on Tuesday.<br /><br />The defaulters include Murad Saeed (Rs14,000), Faisal Kareem Kundi (Rs21,000), Ejaz Chaudhry (Rs33,521) and Syed Zafar Ali Shah (Rs18,000) among others.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278279504304651957.post-62574398162762074652018-06-06T20:25:25.263-07:002018-06-06T20:25:25.263-07:00SC restores ‘omitted’ affidavits in nomination for...SC restores ‘omitted’ affidavits in nomination forms for 2018 polls<br />By Irfan GhauriPublished: June 6, 2018<br /><br />https://tribune.com.pk/story/1729088/1-sc-orders-candidates-submit-affidavits-nomination-papers/<br /><br />ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has directed all candidates of the July 25 elections to attach approved affidavits along with their applications, after the Supreme Court on Wednesday practically restored almost all information omitted in the nomination forms approved by parliament last year.<br /><br />These affidavits include declarations by the candidate about not defaulting on a bank loan or utility charges, details about candidate’s spouse (s) and dependents and their businesses, details of any criminal charges, education credentials, taxes paid in the last three years, contribution to community’s welfare, donations to the party or sums received from the party and net assets with annual increase/decrease in them.<br /><br />Candidates will also need to declare information about their travels abroad during the last three years and cost incurred on these visits. They will permit Foreign Office to obtain information if they had been citizen of any other country, or applied for that.<br /><br />Hearing a petition filed by National Assembly’s former speaker Ayaz Sadiq against the Lahore High Court (LHC) decision to redraft nomination forms, the Supreme Court’s five-judge bench earlier in the day directed the ECP to prepare draft of missing affidavits and submit to the court immediately for approbation.<br /><br />After receiving the drafts, the court released written orders later in the evening with direction for the ECP to inform all candidates of the national and provincial legislatures to file these affidavits along with their nomination papers.<br /><br />Polls schedule issued on June 1 fixed five days from June 2 to 6 for submission of nomination papers. However, the schedule was amended after the LHC ordered restoration of the omitted information from the nomination forms.<br /><br />A number of affidavits that were part of nomination papers in the last general election were omitted when parliament made these forms part of Elections Act in October 2017, despite reservations of the ECP. The ECP wanted these matters be left to it.<br /><br />Since these forms had become part of law, many legal experts believed that these could not be changed without the parliament’s approval. However, the court order has given legal cover to the changes made in the new nomination forms being used for next month’s elections.<br /><br />The Supreme Court order said candidates who had already filed their nomination papers should file the said affidavit with the returning officers by or before June 11, 2018. It warned that failure to file such affidavit would render the nomination papers incomplete and liable to rejection.<br /><br />“If the affidavit or any part thereof is found false then it shall have consequences, as contemplated by the Constitution and the law. Since the Affidavit is required to be filed in pursuance of the orders of this court, therefore, if any false statement is made therein, it would also entail such penalty as is of filing a false affidavit before this court,” said the SC order.<br /><br />The court also directed the ECP to put these affidavits on its official website; communicate to all the returning officers; and publicise them in all the leading newspapers. It also asked the ECP to inform the public through the electronic media in this regard.<br /><br />“With regard to the information omitted from the Nomination Papers and Form A &amp; B, as issued in terms of Elections Act, 2017, when examined in juxtaposition with the requirement of the Nomination Forms previously in vogue under the ROPA, 1976, it appears that the information, no longer required to be disclosed, prima facie, would facilitate the determination of the qualification or disqualification of a candidate and would lead to greater transparency regarding the credentials of a candidate facilitating the electorate in making a more informative choice,” the order said.<br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278279504304651957.post-65186294757970887122018-06-01T16:29:26.722-07:002018-06-01T16:29:26.722-07:00LHC orders ECP to revise nomination forms after cr...LHC orders ECP to revise nomination forms after crucial information is found omitted<br /><br />https://www.dawn.com/news/1411364/lhc-orders-ecp-to-revise-nomination-forms-after-crucial-information-is-found-omitted<br /><br />The court in its judgement noted that the impugned forms do not contain the following information and declarations that were a part of the 2013 nomination forms:<br /><br />Educational qualifications of the candidate<br />Current occupation/job/profession/business of the candidate<br />Dual nationality, if any<br />National Tax Number/Income tax returns/ and payment of income tax<br />Agriculture tax returns and payment of agriculture tax<br />Criminal record, if any<br />Assets and liabilities of dependents<br />Declaration pertaining to election expenses<br />Declaration pertaining to any default in loan or government dues by dependents<br />Declaration that the candidate will abide by the code of conduct issued by ECP<br />&quot;The impugned forms do not provide for mandatory information and declarations as required by the Constitution and the law,&quot; Justice Malik wrote in the 39-page judgement.<br /><br />&quot;The lack of disclosure and information [in Forms A and B] essentially means that a voter will not have the required information on the basis of which an informed decision can be made.&quot;<br /><br />In support of his arguments, the petitioner&#39;s counsel had attached a comparative chart showing the difference between the 2008, 2013 and 2018 nomination forms which he claimed showed that vital information was missing from the new forms.<br /><br />While partially allowing the petitions, the court ruled that the ECP is empowered to add to or improve Form A and B &quot;so as to fulfil its constitutional mandate of ensuring honest, just and fair elections&quot;.<br /><br />The judge dismissed the petitioner&#39;s challenge to the drafting of the nomination form by the parliament for having no merit.<br /><br />Justice Malik, however, wrote that while the parliament can make laws to regulate the conduct of elections, &quot;the ultimate authority and responsibility to ensure free and fair elections is of the ECP. Hence ECP is responsible to ensure that a voter is able to make an informed decision and that the nomination forms achieve this objective.&quot;<br /><br />ECP halts issuance of nomination forms<br />Hours after the LHC judgement was issued, ECP issued a press release saying it has called an emergency meeting at its secretariat on Saturday to make decisions about improving Forms A and B in light of the court order.<br /><br />It also directed returning officers across the country not to receive nomination forms tomorrow.<br /><br />The press release said that the high court&#39;s order reaffirms ECP&#39;s stance which was presented before the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms that the nomination form should be a part of election rules and drafted by the commission.<br /><br />During the hearing of the petition, ECP&#39;s legal director had supported the arguments of the petitioner&#39;s counsel, saying mandatory provisions of the law have been ignored and vital information has not been provided for in the forms.<br /><br />He had informed the court that the commission in a letter to the Parliamentary Committee for Electoral Reforms requested that the ECP, in the very least, be heard by the committee before any draft is prepared. However, the request was not adhered to.<br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.com